Sunset Training
by kathillards
Summary: You save the girl, you save the world. Or, if you're Jayden, just train the girl and save the world and perhaps flirt with her before the night's end. - Oneshot - Samurai - Jayden/Emily -


**Disclaimer: Saban owns PR.

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**Cool breezes whip her face as she jumps, spins, and kicks outward. Her foot meets thin air, and a muttered (G-rated) expletive leaves her lips at the realization that she's missed the practice dummy by a quarter of an inch. Behind her, everything is silent – the other rangers have long since left for dinner, and the sunset will soon make it impossible to train outdoors.

"Still working, huh?" asks a familiar, male voice from behind her, and Emily turns to examine the intruder.

It's Jayden, standing there in his civilian clothes with a grin on his face as he walks forward, closer to where she's standing on the outskirts of the training area. She spares a moment to marvel over how good he can make a red t-shirt and jeans look, before quickly shaking her head to clear _that_ thought.

"Not exactly," she tells him, smoothing down her yellow dress. "I just wanted to get in some more practice. Those Moogers almost beat me today."

His smile transforms into an expression of concern, and she kind of wants to melt at how sweet he is. "Yeah, I saw that – are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she assures him quickly. "The bruises healed easily enough."

Jayden frowns. "Bruises?" His tone of voice is light, but one of his hands clenches into a fist at his side, and she can clearly see that he's worried beyond what he's willing to show her.

Emily laughs, hoping to put him at ease. "Don't worry about it. Ji and Mia had me fixed up in no time."

"Where were the bruises?" he demands, still looking concerned, and his adorable worry _might just_ induce butterflies in her stomach.

"Jayden," she says gently, making a move to reach for his hands, but stopping herself halfway through, "they're _gone_. Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it," he admits, offering her a sheepish grin and running his hands through his hair. "You're easy to l – worry about."

Emily blinks, part of her wondering what he'd been about to say, the other part battling down a blush. "Um, thank you?"

Jayden smiles warmly at her, shoving one hand into his pocket in a stance that she's pretty sure only he could pull off. "Are you gonna show me those bruises or what?"

She tilts her head, examining his earnest expression. "If you show me that move you used against the nighlock."

He blinks at her, startled, but she can see the beginnings of a grin playing on his lips. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"Hardly," she giggles, folding her arms. "It's not exactly _black_, now, is it?"

Jayden grins for real, running a hand through his coffee-brown hair. "Fine. So, where are they?"

"They're mostly gone," she insists, but rolls up the sleeve of her white cardigan for him, anyway. "It's barely there now."

His intake of breath is enough to tell her he doesn't believe her. "Emily, this is still fading, and it's been a day. How bad was it?"

"Not that bad!" Emily tries to reassure him, but it's clearly not working, judging by the look on his face. "Jayden, stop _worrying_."

Jayden reaches out and gently lays two fingers on top of her bruise. She gasps; his touch is refreshingly cool, but it still hurts. Almost immediately, he withdraws his hand, looking guilty, and she has to admit, she kind of misses the feel of his skin on hers.

"Sorry," he says quickly, glancing away from her eyes, a light blush appearing on his cheeks. "I just – I feel like I didn't do my job."

She sighs, trying not to feel giddy at his concern. "Don't be silly. You do your job just fine. You're a wonderful leader."

"But that monster still hurt you," he insists, running his fingers over her bare, unbruised skin, inciting more butterflies than flashes of pain this time. "That's not good."

Emily takes his wrist and gently forces it away from her arm. "You don't have to worry about me, Jayden."

"Yeah, I do," he says adamantly, catching her hand with his free hand. "Emily, you're my teammate now, and you're my friend on top of that. Of course I'm going to worry about you."

She can feel her cheeks warm at his protectiveness. "Yes, and I appreciate it, but, honestly, Jayden, I can take care of myself."

He sighs, rerunning his hand through his hair – it seems to be a nervous habit of his, she notices. "Right. Right, I know you can. I just – I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well, then, the obvious answer is to teach me, isn't it?" Emily smiles at him. "You promised."

Jayden grins. "I did, didn't I? All right, you ready?"

She giggles. "Of course."

"Then get into position," he says, motioning for her to do just that.

She takes the fighting stance her sister had taught her ages ago, and Jayden takes a moment to examine her posture – at least, that's probably what he wants her to think, anyway. He's silent for the space of that moment, though, and Emily can feel her heartbeat tripling at his proximity, at the scent of his mint-fresh breath ghosting over her cheeks, at the sound of his voice, gentle and deep in her ear –

"All it is, really, is just a tornado kick with extra spins," he tells her, finally breaking the silence. "I'm sure you can do it. Watch."

Jayden draws away, flashing her a heartmelting smile, and launches into what looks like a triple tornado kick, jumping up and spinning around and around, his foot connecting squarely with the dummy not once, not twice, but three times in succession.

Emily laughs, a little wistfully. "I won't be able to do that until I've been training for years, Jayden – like you have."

"Don't be silly," he says immediately, brushing his clothes off. "Go on. Try. You've already got the stance down."

She sends him a doubtful look but leaps into the air and attempts to imitate his triple tornado kick. Except, instead of smoothly kicking the dummy in the gut, she ends up tripping and tumbling to the ground. Or, she would have, had he not caught her.

"I'm sorry," Emily begins to say, but her breath's already lost from the kick, and his chocolate gaze certainly isn't helping matters, nor is the feel of his arms warm around her body, keeping her away from the ground and closer to him. Not that she's complaining, mind.

"It's all right," Jayden tells her, grinning. "It takes some practice. I know you can do it."

His hand slides under the sleeve of her cardigan, gently rubbing her bruise, only this time, instead of sending a jolt of pain through her arm, his touch is light and reassuring and makes her feel a little dizzy in the best way possible.

"Let's practice some more, all right?" he murmurs, and she nods as he sets her upright with a smile.

"Show me how it's done, fearless leader," she declares, rolling up her sleeves, ready for work.

Jayden crosses his arms and grins down at her. "Fearless leader, huh? I could get used to that."

If she didn't know better, she might say that he was … _flirting_ with her.

(He knows better, though, and he _definitely_ is.)

It's a good day, overall.

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**Author's Notes: Since my first Jayden/Emily was well-received, I decided to forge ahead into the land of Samurai! :D Here's hoping for some good J/E moments in the upcoming episodes! And I hope you all liked this (enough to review, perchance?).**

**Don't favorite/alert without reviewing, please and thank you :) If you read it, drop me a review to tell me what you thought! Thanks!**


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